Italian technical journalist Giorgio Piola has struck again, releasing some details of the new Ferrari due to be launched at Maranello on Friday February 3rd.

The car has been described as “ugly” by Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo and it’s certainly a new departure from the DNA of Ferraris of recent years, but all there are agreed that if it’s fast enough, it will certainly be beautiful!

Among the indiscretions Piola has published in Gazzetta dello Sport today are that the suspension is a pull-rod system, the first on a Ferrari for 11 years. This is what Red Bull has been using since 2009 and many others have followed.

It works well with a lower nose and allows a lower centre of gravity on the car. At the rear it allows the back to sit low, clearly part of Ferrari’s strategy for coping with the loss of the blown diffusers.

The new rules, lowering the nose on the cars, means that the nose droops down.

The drivers are more reclined in the new Ferrari. The sidepods are very narrow and the crash structures to protect the driver are in two wing like shapes in front of the leading edge of the sidepods, above the radiator inlet line. In addition to meeting the crash requirements, they will clearly have an aerodynamic function.

All the teams are working on innovative sidepod ideas to try to get the best possible airflow to the rear of the car to make up for the lost downforce from the banning of the blown diffusers. Sidepods offer quite a bit of freedom to the designers.

According to Piola the front and rear wings at the launch will be old specification, not the 2012 ones.

The exhaust outlets will be at the lower end of the range specified in the new rules, blowing across the bottom profile of the rear wing. But there is a development plan, apparently, to move to what McLaren and Red Bull is believed to be doing, which is to exit the exhausts high up, to blow across the top profile.

The car, under the guidance of technical director and former McLaren designer Pat Fry, is the work of Nikolas Tombazis, with legendary Ferrari designer Rory Byrne a significant contributor in the background. It’s believed that Byrne is behind the innovation on the protective structures in the form of a wing in front of the sidepods.

Last year there was a lot of imagery around the launch of the pride of Italy, celebrating its 150th Anniversary.

Although the political tone might be lower this year, the team and particularly Montezemolo, will be well aware that Italy needs something to be proud of at this difficult time, with the economy in crisis and the recent sinking of one of its cruise ships another embarrassing episode for the country.

I fail to understand how Ferrari, in fact, any F1 team would allow a journalist, to see their car prior to launch.
These teams are all secretive of their designs. Even on the grid before a race they stand in front of the car.
Is this a leak, or would Ferrari purposely leak ideas and images to the press as gamesmanship?
Any ideas James?

lol I remember that (how could I forget!). When I first saw the BMW in 2009 with the current rules, as in huge front wing and small rear wing, that was the biggest shock in changes of looks for an f1 car for a while.

I liked it too. Still think the sidepods are the sexiest part of an F1 car, though, so am excited by new designs in that area for this year. The 2005 Sauber had sexy sidepods. Loved last year’s McLaren sidepods, too. Hoping they go even more extreme this year.

Does anyone know if the FIA are looking to the new Indy car with its boxed rear wheels with interest in the safety benefits? That car is the most interesting open-wheeled car to come along in a long time.

What has the sinking of a ship got to do with Ferrari and how it is to perform on the track? Being Italian I have read no such reports of this nature or heard such things. A Ferrari win is always positive but that is just opinionated reporting Mr Allen.

No it isn’t. It’s a comment regarding the Italian nation, not just Ferrari.

James was making the point that following the ongoing uncertainty in the Italian economy and the recent sinking of the Costa Concordia (an Italian cruise liner), that it would be positive for Ferrari (and therefore the feeling/morale amongst the Italian public) to have something to sing and shout about.

It’s not opinionated, it just recognises the close association between Ferrari and Italy.

If you feel that a national disaster (e.g. a nuclear disaster triggered by a tsunami), one with global interest, isn’t damaging to a nation’s pride then you need to reassess your perspective. Of course it stings, and it would sting the same part of you that feels pride when your country wins a gold metal (or if Ferrari wins a WC).

Italy is in the news for all of the wrong reasons (political ineptitude, commercial ineptitude, personal navigation errors). James’ point is that a national team doing well would be a shot in the arm for the country.

OMG!!! As if we didn’t have enough excitement for 2012 as it is, now even Rory Byrne had to throw his hat in the ring.

What the hell, do this people want to do to us?

It’s like they’re trying to put us all in hospitals by making up for all the boring/dominant races of 2011 & other such seasons in the past by delivering, the perfect F1 season in mankind’s history.

Anyway, hopefully Ferrari have found something with all these new gadgets for I change my mind, yes it would be nice to have Ferrari back to the party for an F1 WDC/WCC isn’t really worth much (in the true sense) until you beat Ferrari on each footing.

Yes, qualifying is going to be a whole new ball game, it would be very interesting to see if any driver can get under Sebi’s head.

P.s.

From what am told, ugly cars tend to be blooming slow whereas the pretty ones usually tend to be winners e.g. Schumi’s 2004 Ferrari or Lewis’ 2008 Mclaren

Couple of interesting points there the head of Ferrari calling his own car ugly surprising? actually not That dalmed aero drive that i have previously mentioned destroying the cars looks and making them boring to watch and not as driver involving i.e having to be on guard to respond so much at any time i.e use there skills there in the sport to demonstrate/display. sorry but if the boss of the most recognisable and proven mass performance/executive car manufacturer is calling his own car and surely referring to the modern F1 cars in general ugly something should give! 2nd interesting point in the article ferrari launching the car with the old wings prosumably this is pointing at something effective in there aero package related to the wings that appears to be offering big effect?

More so due to the confidence Alonso seemed to swagger about the coming season a few weeks back that’s not like him he is normally quietly confident with very little emotional give, He was like a baby with a box of new rattles going by emotional reads i thought.

The wing they start testing with won’t be the same design they start the season with. And they were working on this years wing during the season last year, so it’ll be a variation of the 2011 wing I guess.

I honestly don’t see why Ferrari launching a car with old wings is a surprise.
Every F1 team launches their cars with wings from the previous season as they don’t want the competition copying their ideas before the season starts. This has been industry practice for many years.

Sorry sir, but there is absolutely nothing funny, including the captain, about the cruise ship episode. Furthermore, the list of funny English characters is at least as long as the Italian one, if not longer. Comment’s like yours makes it easier to understand the “veredict” in the Luis Suarez case and the non-veredict (so far) in the John Terry case. I’m surprised JA hasn’t blocked this comment, especially in light of some of mine that have been blocked.

goferet, the other day on Italian TV, there was a news article about the Houses of Parliament in the UK subsiding massively.
There was speculation that talks were being made with China to buy the building or to help pay the 1 billion to repair it etc. It hasn’t been mentioned in the British press at all.
You have to see beyond the propaganda that alot of the media in this country portrays of others.
I may be cynical, but wasn’t it a member of the labour government who thought that the tragedy of 9/11 would be a perfect time to release information that would get less airtime at the time.
Governments around the world have proven time and again that they cannot be trusted, it’s not merely a problem that is confined to Southern European countries.

Regarding the Emperor’s from 2,000 years ago, would these be villainous individuals like the British Empire in India, or the current Chinese regime that doesn’t observe any human rights at all, or even the Americans who have a history of committing to wars all around the world when it serves their purposes?

No one civilisation is perfect. We all have histories that make us proud and ashamed in equal measures and we all have individuals that are admired or hated.

To bring it back to F1, a British team is the only one who has ever been fined for stealing and copying designs by another team, ie, Mclaren in 2007, yet the almost pathological hatred of Ferrari almost makes this acceptable.

Regarding this news story, James is there information that Ferrari have given Piola, in the same way that car manufacturers give pre publicity shots to magazines to hype up the new product?
It seems astonishing that a journalist, no matter how respected, would be able to walk into the Gestione Sportiva and glance over the new car…

Thanks for the insight James.However I’m far more interested in what Pat Fry will add than anyone else !. Keep in mind he just came from a red hot maclaren team that were just about as quick as Red Bull last few races. I wont be surprised if the maclaren side pods are copied/modified this year to compensate for down force lost by blown defusers. Would be great to get Kimis progress if possible. Thanks.

And here is the transcript from another interview he did with South African Motorsport:

Q: How long does it take away from the activity of motor racing?
RB: “My recall of the Ferrari F1 was in 2006, although estubo Design Consultant until 2008 though linked to early 2009. Most of the time step in Phucket (Thailand), but returned as a consultant to Ferrari earlier this year mainly in GT categories, but since June I returned to work more actively in the Department of F1, especially this winter with a view to next year’s car ”

Q: What is your role at Ferrari right now? What is your job?
RB: “Well, the most important aspect of my job now is to help Pat coordinate research activities, such as aerodynamics or the dynamics of the car. Basically, my job depends on five people who are in charge of the structures, dynamics vehicle aerodynamics, R & D and Global Design.

When it comes to my work right, even I have my office where I try to bring my knowledge and Experience in the design of the car. Then basically support Pat and Nikolas, who are the ones who are in charge of all design, to study the data in the wind tunnel and simulator. But the most important is to help Pat coordinate all these activities ”

Q: After being withdrawn entirely because it has decided to return to work at Ferrari?
RB: “I have an important link with Ferrari, as the team needs me I will try to give the maximum of my ability, have always treated me exceptionally. You could say it’s my second family”

Q: When the car will debut next year?
RB: “The presentation is scheduled, I think the first week of February, making its track debut will take place in the first test days. But this does not mean that we see the same car as the last test, as we want to further research and design to take advantage of the training as possible, and get the best possible conditions for the first race of the season ”

Q: You made a statement which stated that he was convinced it would be very competitive?
RB: “Obviously I want that to happen, and I am convinced it will. We have not tested in court, but the simulations and data obtained have met our expectations, but there is still time left and we must continue to improve as much as possible. Our competitiveness depends on the progress made ​​by our competitors and how everyone has been able to meet the great effect that had the exhaust ”

Q: Thank you for your time and good luck for the season.
RB: Thank you, good afternoon.

As a McLaren fan I generally hope for a poor Ferrari, but as a general F1 fan, I’m really hoping Rory Byrne has brought some Newey-defeating tricks to bear. I’m always hoping for McLaren wins above all else – but after last years one-man-Vettel show, the prospect of multiple winners from multiple teams taking it down to the wire is far preferable.

It is sad that a team like Ferrari has to still depend on Rory Byrne. If it is not for Rory, Ferrari will conitnue just what they have been doing lately … pinch ideas from Red Bull, McLaren etc. instead of being innovative. Very sad.

I am just wondering, if it turned out to be a winning car, will the credit go to Rory or Alonso. It is strange that whenever Vettel wins, people seems to say ‘ah .. it is an Adrian Newey designed car’ … and Vettel hardly gets any credit for his hard work behind the wheel.

It depends, If the car is over a second faster than everybody else in qualification, is on the front row on most races and win more than half the races while not really be troubled by the opposition. It will be fair to say its the car. If the car is 1/10 of a second faster and Alonso win the WDC then its a different story..

Is it me, or your comment reads something like, it’s very sad that ferrari are trying to improve and not copy everybody else? It makes for a very strange opinion. Maybe they should just continue underperforming to suit your tastes?

Hm.. I think this is way to easy. Just because in recent years ferrari didn’t bring much great ideas you can not say they are totally dependent on Byrne. Just 2 years ago they lost the WDC in the final race.
As a team there are always people being more important than others and isn’t a team always depending a lot on its main designer and best driver? Where would RB be without Newey? Or Vettel ?

Adrian has repeatedly penned championship winning cars, with his success now spanning three separate constructors. No doubt Vettel is one of the top drivers in the world, but we’ll never know whether he is better than Alonso, Hamilton, Button, Raikonnen, Rosberg, Schumacher et-al, because they will never all be in the same F1 car.

Even if they were in the same car, the dynamics of the car would probably be suited to one driver over another, further muddying the picture.

The car makes a big difference. The build of the driver makes some difference too. None of the drivers mentioned above would win a race if they were in the HRT or the Marussia. At this stratospheric level of racing, the driver can make perhaps a 0.2-0.5 second difference to lap times at a typical GP track. The car can make a difference of 10x greater magnitude.

Hopefully, the difference this year between the Red Bull and the rest will be less, and we’ll be treated to a multi-constructor fight for the championships.

“Even if they were in the same car, the dynamics of the car would probably be suited to one driver over another, further muddying the picture.”

Very true, I guess the only way we can tell who is the better driver is for one designer (maybe AN) to design cars for each of the top 5 or 6 drivers at the moment, so they all get their best suited machineries and send them out to race for 50 odd laps and see who comes out on top

Why do teams have these official launches? A good PR opportunity but doesn’t it just reveal design details to the other teams earlier than they really need to? Or is anything of interest simply kept back until testing commences?

It is a bit wrong for me to single out a typo, but your reference to hart and Rory Byrne brought up a particular image in my head – a 1985 Toleman-Hart suffering an engine failure – commonly referred to as a Hart-attack within the Rory Byrne designed car.

In my case, it was the 1993 and 1994 Jordan Hart. I’ll never forget the sight of my boss walking away from the car in a Silverstone pit garage, then jumping and spilling the cup of tea he was carrying as they fired up the Hart V10 behind him. The massive change in noise level in that enclosed space was like a bomb going off.

Can’t wait to see what McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes and the rest have penned for this year.

Scuderia Ferrari must win the WDC this year with Fernando Alonso for them to achieve the same number of WDC wins as they did with Raikkonen.

However, the Raikkonen and Massa pair helped the team win 3 titles in total: 2 constructors’ and 1 drivers’ title. The Alonso and Massa pair have already lost to that achievement as they can’t win 3 titles in one season. So, in 3 years, Raikkonen and Massa and the rest of the team won more than Alonso and Massa with the rest of the team can achieve. This of course in no way means that Alonso would be a mediocre driver, he is certainly excellent, but it highlights the fact that scapegoating Raikkonen was a very low thing to do by Montezemolo and Domenicali.

I, as a hardcore Scuderia Ferrari fan would like to hear Montezemolo and Domenicali publicly apologize to Mr. Raikkonen and all his worldwide fans for the huge incompetence and dishonesty they both displayed in regards to Mr. Raikkonen’s position in the team.

you know what they say, never let facts get in the way of an opinion..

Do you remember how Ferrari won the 2007 WCC? Because McLaren was disqualified from the WCC. Nothing to brag about. Sure they were cut spying but every team spy each other. Its fine as long as you don’t get cut.

Kimi was lucky to win in 2007 like Lewis was lucky to win in 2008, but they both got the job done so they both deserved it. Kimi speed and commitment went downhill after that and in 2009 Ferrari had enough and replaced him with someone lead the team forward.

To say that Ferrari needs to apologizes to Kimi is hilarious. It was a tough but fair decision they took and with insight its clearly it was the right decision.

I know a lot of Kimi fans were angry about the decision, but if you can take a step back and focus on the facts and leave your personal feeling about him on the side, the only logic conclusion is that he brought it on himself.

Ferrari cars in 2007 and 2008 were much better than 2010 and 2011 ones. And there is also the civil war McLaren had in 2007, helping Kimmi win WDC and gifting Ferrari WCC. And numbers say Kimmi and Massa performed at the same level along the 2’5 years they were together while Mr. Alonso has scored almost the double of Massa’s pointsfor the past two years. What they did to Kimmi was ugly, but with time it proved to be the right decision.

That is just so wrong the cars in 2010 and 2011 were better the only difference was the redbull was better nobody wins the title by luck as the title is fought over the season so saying mclarens in fighting gifted Kimi the title is wrong.
As to what they did to Kimi well time would tell obviously Alonso is not as good in leading them as they thought as they have had to look for Rory now. So if Alonso wins the WDC it would all be down to Rory and not Alonso.

Why would you apologize to someone who shows up mentally only when he wants. You look at other champions, FA will drive until the wheels fall off, JB LH all show what they have if not in a perfect competitive car…..MS will drive until is is destroyed ….the mark of a Champion is one who is engaged and 110% no matter how good the car is…Kimi never did that.

He can be blindly fast….when he wants.
…He is one of the top four best drives on any grid when he wants…

Tim, all those drivers have examples of supposedly not trying as hard, the whole Kimi does not try story does not really have legs.

Sure he may be less intense than others outside the car but FA looked like he was going through the motions at times at Renault before he joined Ferrari. JB was accused of being a bit of a journeyman playboy in his Renault years to have but two examples.

Don’t think they should apologise afterall it’s their decision but I think the slow start to his final Ferrari season was more down to setup and tyres once they got the car setup he was brilliant in the second half.

A lot of F1 is about perception, people perceive him to have motivational issues others for years perceived JB to be slow, FB famously called his a roadblock or something equally scathing now he is seen a the first driver to beat Hamilton something not even Alfonso could do.

There’s no criticism of Italy or Italians here – but my point is that the people if Italy could do with something to restore some pride – win the Euro 2012 or see Ferrari cutting it up on the track would be a real positive at a tough time.

“The car has been described as “ugly” by Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo and it’s certainly a new departure from the DNA of Ferraris of recent years, but all there are agreed that if it’s fast enough, it will certainly be beautiful!”

The fastest cars aren’t usually ugly though, are they?

In any case, we won’t know how fast it really is until Q3 in Melbourne.

I doubt it is pullrod as since modern F1 car aero has open air space under the high nose and in front of the splitter/tray. This means there is nowhere to mount the rockers and dampers for a pullrod suspension without ditching the splitter.

I read elsewhere that it is a pull rod suspension.Trying to emulate Red Bull.Nothing new really ! Couldnt care less what Ferrari build or what Montezemolo think. The only reason Ferrari succeed at all of late is the english designers and great drivers. I sensed in 2008/9 there was more going on behind the scenes that contributed to Kimis departure. Ferrari is not a team for most drivers, you either have to ‘run’ the team as Michael did or kiss @&!/ as everyone else has to survive-not just perform.

The RB7 has a pushrod front suspension. It is the rear of the RB7 that is pullrod. The combination of a pullrod front suspension and a high nose would be unusual and not an example of Ferrari emulating Redbull.

Thanks etm.your right RB7 is front pushrod rear pullrod.I relayed what was posted elsewhere-perhaps they were referring to RB8..Anyways looks like a few teams going for high front end (see first pics caterham), maybe chance for a few to try diffrent suspension set up.

Your right. Now I’m wondering why Ferrari made the hump. I assumed that the hump nosed cars were doing so to house the rockers and shocks on top (as they did before) but Ferrari shouldn’t have that excuse. Definatly a question I am hoping to find an answer to.

I’ve always maintained that beauty is in the eye of the fellow on the podium spraying champagn on the crowd, i.e., winning makes it all good. (Fortunately Honda’s “My earth dream” never did well enough to challenge my thesis.)

I’m fascinated to see what Ferrari have come up with, even if it’s ugly it has to be a brave design if it’s gonna have any chance this season. I’m also intrigued as to what Rory Byrne has achieved with these side-pod wings. Or U-wings I’ve heard them called. Here’s a link that may give an idea of what these could look like:

James I ordered your latest book as I have done for the two previous copies by following the “order a signed copy” link from your website. Unfortunately the book was delivered with no signature which was disappointing.

I really do hope for a competative Ferarri or more so a competative Alonso to truly see what Vettel is made off.

But I can’t help but sense this is all a bit desperate and this stuff is all leaked intentionally to boast morale. It is still copying others and a lot of it long overdue and in fact signalling defeat over your own design principles.. It seems to suggest think they can Play catch up while the rest stand still.

Notice how McLaren have been quiet thus far, unlike previous years where they too created expectations right through after testing and failed badly to turn up with a winnig car out of the box.

I suspect it will be mclaren vs redbull with another disappointing year for tifosi which will signal the end for domenicali, massa and a few more.

James – it would be great if a journalist like yourself did a few articles/blog posts on the key personnel behind the scenes. Most people can identify the team principals, but what about the key engineers, etc? It would be good to get your insight into who the players are and who is making a difference or giving their team an edge.

James, off topic but with teams restricted to testing only one car at the upcoming test sessions, which of the drivers will inherit the test car for the opening race and which get a new one out of the box. Alternatively does the test car get put aside with both drivers getting a new car to start the season proper?

Great question. I’ll find out. Often the race chassis are numbers 2 & 3. Brawn did the whole 2009 season with only two cars plus a spare tub. That makes those cars two pretty – and Button’s in particular – very valuable!

and ….. this is the BGP001 which Jenson had to sue Mercedes to get back as it was in his Brawn contract to keep if he won the Championship …. Good on you Jenson – Naughty Mercedes.. you got caught out.

Thanks RickeeBoy for explaining; I’m sure it’s what James meant but I missed the point. Does anyone know where Jenson KEEPS the car? And, is it useable (Can he just take it for a spin?!), or would it need an army of team mechanics and a ton of computer-controlled machinery to start it up, as I believe most F1 cars need?

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but as far as I know, the engine gets taken out of the car, so only the car bar the powerplant is delivered.

Even IF the engine stays with the car, it’d need a starter thing shoved to the back of the car to start it up, which takes around an hour to warm up from what I heard on some F1-special programme on TV.

Didn’t Rubens write off his chassis in his Quali crash in Singapore? Also one of the Brawn’s was turned into a Mercedes Demo car for Goodwood and other events. So it is possible there is only one left, presumably in a garage in Frome/The Channel Islands.

James, why did Merc / Brawn initially refused to deliver Jenson the car as promised as stated in his contract when they offered to build him another one, when they could delivery the car Jenson drove and build themselves another car for demo / museum display purposes since they have all the blueprints anyway?

@ Tim ” …looking to the new Indy car with its boxed rear wheels with interest in the safety benefits?”

No Tim.
IndyCar is one of those ghastly ‘spec’ series that actually levels the playing field, and is run by those ghastly Americans on a ghastly mix of road/street/oval courses.
F1, being the Pinnacle, would not deign to look at them for anything.

OK I am an American and a few in our open wheel ranks destroyed our series fifteen years ago, one that was a very good series….but “ghastly”…please we are working hard to get it corrected in the face of horrible deaths and a struggling economy….we are still trying…we are not “ghastly Americans” nor any of the other things you called our series or us as humans.

Apparently your sarcasm detector is malfunctioning, old chap.
And just fyi don’t tell a soul but I, too, am one of those ghastly Americans.
I was merely sending up the usual Euro attitude, which I learned from living there for years.
And yes, Champ Cars were the best. At Indy, one driven by a Mr. A. Luyendyk still holds the absolute lap record of 239+ mph, at which speed of course an F1 car would come unhinged and start shedding movable aero bits.

Good question, but just imagine what this will do for Italy’s image (and self-esteem) if they have to bring a “foreigner” to manage their team. If SD gets replaced (and I think he should), he will surely get replaced by another Italian; I can’t see Ferrari picking a cool-headed, no-nonsense Englishman and then watch him win championship after championship.

A non-Italian would mean Italians are not good picks for any sort of management position (inclusing ship captains).

Nothing wrong with people not of Italian nationality steering the team to WDC / WCC. Todt is French, Bryne is South African and Brawn is of course English and they were all part of it to help Ferrari. Nobody cared what nationality they were.

James, slightly off topic but when the FIA bans things like the reactive suspension system suddenly, wont teams like Lotus, who innovated the system, be disadvantaged since they might have spent crucial development time behind it? Is this not unfair in the part of the FIA not to clarify the regulations clearly in the first place itself?

You state that the exhaust exit “will be at the lower end of the range specified in the new rules, blowing across the bottom profile of the rear wing”, but I’ve read in various other sources that the exhaust is notable high. Could you possibly provide a bit more clarification on that?

Always almost the latter I’d say (agreeing with JA), much like the double-diffuser years where all teams covered up the back of the cars, or in previous year where teams also unveiled their new cars with old parts. Nothing new really.